Search Results: Authors starting with V from Captain Ahab's Rare Books

New York: Tom Doherty Associates, 2020. First Edition. Octavo (23.5cm); illustrated card wrappers; 348,[4]pp. Trivial wear to extremities, with faint sticker residue to rear wrapper, else Fine and unread.

Reading, PA: Fantasy Press, 1950. First Edition. Sharp copy of this key Van Vogt title, collecting two novellas - Masters of Time and The Changeling - both of which originally appeared in the pages of Astounding Science Fiction. First Printing, Limited Issue, one of 500 numbered copies signed on an inserted limitation page, this being copy no.71. Octavo (19.5cm); red cloth, with tiltes stamped in gilt on spine; dustjacket; [11],12-227,[1]pp. Inscribed by the author on the limitation page to a noted science fiction collector: "S.F. Schultheis / All the best always / A.E. Van Vogt." Tiny spot to front cover, three tiny spots to rear cover, with two corners gently tapped (though still sharp); Near Fine in a Fine, unclipped dustjacket (priced $3.00).

London: W.H. Allen, 1973. First U.K. Edition. A series of autobiographical essays on film by the legendary director, produced, and screenwriter. A fine association copy - Baxter would go on two write the first serious study on Vidor for the Monarch Film Studies series in 1976. First Impression. Octavo (22cm); navy blue paper-covered boards, with titles stamped in gilt on spine; dustjacket; xiv,[2],3-239,[3]pp, with an additional 16pp of photographs. Inscribed on the front endpaper to Australian writer, journalist, and film-maker John Baxter: "To John Baxter / With the best wishes of King Vidor / London 10-7-74." Scattered foxing to upper edge of textblock, a few faint, tiny stains to lower edge of textblock, else Near Fine and clean throughout. Dustjacket is unclipped (priced £2.75 net), lightly edgeworn, with a faint touch of dustiness, a few tiny abrasions, and some faint foxing to flaps; Very Good+ or better.

London: Andrew Dakers Limited, 1944. First Edition. Viger's only published novel, a lost race fantasy relayed by the author via psychic projection, of ancient Atlantis, its sinking beneath the waves and, later, its rising once more. A scarce war-time publication; OCLC notes 15 holdings, of these, only 6 in U.S. institutions (CSU East Bay, UCLA, UC Riverside, LC, Southern Illinois, LSU). Locke (A Spectrum of Fantasy, Vol.1), p.219; Bleiler (1978 ed), p.200. First Impression. Octavo (19cm); black cloth, with titles stamped in gilt on spine; dustjacket; 179,[1]pp. Neat contemporary owners name to front endpaper, hint of dustiness to boards, top edge a bit dust-soiled, else clean internally; Near Fine. Dustjacket is unclipped (priced 7s 6d net), gently spine-sunned and lightly edgeworn, with some dustiness to panels and scattered foxing along flap folds; Very Good+.

Richmond, VA: I.N. Jones & Son, 1898. First Edition. Detailed analysis of the healing and chemical properties of the various hot springs in Bath County, Virginia. Froehling, a German-born chemist, who in 1881 established a chemical laboratory and caol mining consulting firm in Richmond. OCLC notes 2 holdings (U.Virginia, NY Academy of Medicine Library). Slim octavo (20.5cm); original printed wrappers, stapled; [3],4-35,[1]pp, with two fold-out maps of Bath County, Virginia tipped-in. Light dust-soil to wrappers; contents fresh and clean, with two closed tears along right margin of final map; Very Good+ or better.

Richmond: R.F. Walker, 1876. First Edition. Pamphlet chiefly comprised of an address to the General Assembly by James L. Kemper (1823-1895), former Confederate General, Conservative Party member, and Governor of Virginia from 1874-1878. An appendix contains various letters to Kemper from various residents, his responses to them, and his proclamation regarding the occupation of Petersburg by a detachment of the U.S. Army. Slim octavo (22.5cm); string-tied wrappers; 39,[1]pp. Faint vertical bend at center, light wear to extremities, with some foxing, scattered soil, and two small losses to terminal leaf (none affecting lettering); Very Good+.

Paris: Éditions Cosmopolites, 1929. First French Edition. Basis for Fritz Lang's 1929 silent film Frau in Mond, adapted for the screen by Thea von Harbou from her 1928 novel Die Frau in Mond. The novel was released in the US and UK in 1930 as By Rocket to the Moon and The Woman in the Moon, respectively. An attractive copy of a scarce edition, published the same year the film was released and preceding both English language translations. OCLC finds 5 copies, of these, only 1 in the U.S. (Harvard). First Impression. Octavo (17cm); tan paper-covered boards, with blue and bronze marbling to covers, titling and decorations stamped in gilt and dark yellow on spine; dustjacket; 253, [1]pp. Faint foxing to text edges, preliminary and terminal leaves, with light tanning to same; Near Fine. Dustjacket priced 3 Frs.50 at upper right corner of front panel; light wear to extremities and joints, shallow loss at spine ends and corner tips (none affecting lettering), with some scattered foxing and faint… Read More

Berlin: August Scherl, G.m.b.h., 1926. First Edition. Attractive copy of von Harbou's best-known work, a novel of class struggle set in a futuristic urban dystopia. Fritz Lang's 1927 film adaptation, with a screenplay co-written by von Harbou, would go on to premiere in more than 40 countries between 1927-1929. A cornerstone work of science fiction, whose super-scientific future city and contribution to robot culture can be seen in everything from Star Wars to Blade Runner. Bleiler (1948 ed.), p.141; Barron 3-23 (Anatomy of Wonder, 1976 ed.). First Impression, cloth issue. Octavo (19cm); publisher's green linen boards, with titling and decorations stamped in gilt and red on spine and front cover; yellow edge-staining; dustjacket; 274,[1],[5]pp ads. Hint of a forward lean, base of spine gently nudged, else very Near Fine, fresh internally, without rubbing to cloth or decorative elements. In the original dustjacket designed by Walter Reimann; hint of sunning to spine, light wear to extremities, with a… Read More

New York: Delta, 1971. First Edition. New. Vonnegut's only play, simultaneously issued in cloth and wrappers. Basis for the 1971 film starring Rod Steiger and Susannah York. Pieratt, Huffman & Klinkowitz AI2. First Printing, wrappered issue. Octavo (20cm); illustrated card wrappers; xxii,199,[1]pp; illus. Faint vertical crease along the front joint, light wear to extremities, with a hint of foxing to terminal blank: Near Fine.

New York: Delacorte Press, 1982. First, Limited Edition. A privately published volume for the occasion of Vonnegut's 60th birthday, containing stories, tributes, photos, and illustrations. Contributors include Art Buchwald, John Updike, Irwin Shaw, Richard Yates, Gail Godwin, John Irving, E.L. Doctorow, Norman Mailer, Garry Trudeau, George Plimpton, Truman Capote, and others. Uncommon inscribed. Printed in a run of 500 copies, though this one is unnumbered and out-of-series. Octavo (21.5cm); coarse red-orange cloth, with titles stamped in gilt on spine; all edges gilt; publisher's matching cloth slipcase, with Vonnegut's facsimile signature stamped in gilt on right side; x,164,[2]pp; illus. Inscribed by the author on the half-title page (Aug.7, 1999) within one of his trademark self-portraits to American bookseller Glenn Horowitz, who brokered the sale of Vonnegut's papers to Indiana University. Gentle sunning to spine, else very Near Fine in an about Near Fine slipcase, lightly edgeworn, with some… Read More